8800 GS or 9600 GT

[Goliath182]

I was thinking about building my first SLI PC. About time since ive had over 5 SLI boards. I was looking toward the mid range cards since i dont want to spend a whole lot. Ive seen the 8800 GS perform as well as a 9600 GT when overclocked. Think i should go for 9600 GT or cheap out with the 8800 GS?

[werty316]

9600GT gets my vote.

EDIT: I have a feeling this thread will turn out to be another 8800GS vs. 9600GT argument.

[tyle6]

If your SLIing these cards i vote 9600gt aswell

[Goliath182]

The thing i have about a 9600GT is currently Tiger has these prices (including rebates):

9600GT - 140

8800GS - 100

Is the 9600GT really worth 80 more if i can get the same performance out of a 8800GS.

[PP Mguire]

Look at it this way. If your saying you have to OC the 8800GS to reach stock 9600GT performance then think about 9600GT OCed compared to 8800GS oced performance. Then, with the 9600GT SLI scaling being so much better the 9600GT is the better buy anyways. And Newegg FTW.

[Ranzear]

9-series has purportedly better SLI scaling and will perform better at a higher clock.

The GS cards are gimp even at $100, but you're still buying budget cards.

A single 8800GTS 512m will likely do you better, with the 'future path' upgrade of another one after prices drop even more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150261
Same price as the SLI budget 9s

As always I don't advocate SLI unless you're over 22" of screen.

[Goliath182]

I dont really care about raw performance unless you think that 939 X2 can make use of it.

[srpeters18]

No, but 80% scalability over 20-30% is a HUGE difference.

[Goliath182]

Its useless to me unless the processor can use it.

[srpeters18]

Understand, but if that's the case, why bother with SLI at all?

[Goliath182]

Ive never used SLI and i want my next main pc to use SLI so i would like to get some experience with it before i convert to it.

[srpeters18]

Well even if you're just getting SLI to play around with it, I'd still go with the SLI that works well. From what I understand there are far less problems with the 9xxx SLI than with the 88xx.

[Goliath182]

I really havent heard of a whole lot of problems with SLI on the 8 series. Plus ive seen that the 8 series is catching up to the scaling on the 9600GT.

[srpeters18]

I've heard all kinds of problems stemming from SLI. Mostly driver incompatibility issues. And starting to catch up != caught up.

[Dragon_CPU]

From a previous GS owner I say GS FTW.... 9600 what?

[PP Mguire]

Plus ive seen that the 8 series is catching up to the scaling on the 9600GT.Thats BS, the reason the 9000s scale so much better is in the hardware so there is no software that can remotely make the 8800s scale as good. The 9600GTs will be alot better for your SLIing and your X2 wont be a problem.

[Goliath182]

Ive seen a comparison with the new drivers and the 8800GT has gained ground in scaling compared to the 9600GT.

If you think that that X2 will handle it...

[PP Mguire]

Well we still dont know what X2 your talking about. And just think about how much more better the 9600GTs will scale with the newer drivers.

[Goliath182]

My 4200+, which is still being borrowed. :wink:

[PP Mguire]

Runs my 7950GTs fine.

[Goliath182]

But a 7950 GT isnt a 9600 GT.

[PP Mguire]

Well apparently the only thing holding me back now i guess is the PCI-E slots which run 8x in SLI. If you get a 32x board (16x-16x) you shouldnt have a problem.

[Goliath182]

I was looking at this board.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-A8N32-SLI-Deluxe-Socket-939-Motherboard-Editing_W0QQitemZ220224018191QQihZ012QQcategoryZ99 245QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[PP Mguire]

Yea that will work good.

[Goliath182]

Think a 600 Watt PSU is enough?

[PP Mguire]

Well if my 550watt was good enough for 2 8800GTXs and an e6600 OCed + watercooling id say so. As long as its a good brand.

[Goliath182]

Woo thats a lot i didnt think that was possible with a 550 watter lol. Yea i was thinkin about a 600 watt but if a 550 can do that id probably go with something like this.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3436149&CatId=1079

[PP Mguire]

I got something lucky outa the pot, i wouldnt trust a 550watt other than mine with that much load. Go 600watt and be safe even though i dont think those 9600GTs take much more than my 7950GTs.

[Goliath182]

Recommend this? Other than this i dont see any brand that i would buy a PSU from.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2974472&CatId=1483

[PP Mguire]

Noooo dont get any Ultras besides my Ultra X2 550watt X-Connect or the X3 1000watt.

If your spending that kinda money get a brand like PC Power & Cooling or Tagan or OCZ. (OCZ and PCP&P are the same thing now by the way)

[Goliath182]

Mk heres a couple.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3092557&CatId=1483

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3438607&CatId=1483

The rest are some brand called Apevia and iPower.

[srpeters18]

Ordinarily, I'm not a big thermaltake fan, but my TT Purepower 600w hasn't given me any problems at all.

[Goliath182]

This is why i hate buying PSU's i never know which one to get. I cant see a TT Powerpure in here. :-?

[srpeters18]

Hehe, googled and found a review here on bjorn3d

Purepower RX review
(http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1105&pageID=3470)

The one I have doesn't have the RX designation and therefore doesn't come with modular cables, found this one on newegg. Wish I'd have seen it before I bought mine.

600RX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153049&Tpk=Purepower%2b600w)

[Goliath182]

That looks like its pretty good. Might pick this one up.

[srpeters18]

Like I said, I haven't had a single issue with it. The review here got 9.0/10.0 and the reviews on Newegg seem to be very positive as well.

[srpeters18]

Just got an e-mail from the shop I used to use, and they do have an online store. Same PSU (non-modular) for 79.99 after $20 MIR.

Link (http://www.pcclub.com/product_details.cfm?itemno=A6211191&email=LA&dt=0418e)

[PP Mguire]

Modular is always better to have because nobody likes to stuff extra cables. Least i dont. Id choose that OCZ or the modular Thermaltake he linked. Good PSUs.

[srpeters18]

I would've preferred modular too. I was on a sneaky spending spree though. Told my wife I was going to pick up a CPU fan and a $40 power supply. Ended up walking out of the shop with the TT PSU, a Q6600 and a TT bach case. Then went in the next day and picked up an 8800GT. Yeah, I was in trouble. Like I said in the other thread; True Love!